Review: April (April Series Book 1) by Mackey Chandler

April by Mackey Chandler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Collapse of North America

This is the first book in a continuing series. The narrative ends at a natural break, but there are future books that continue the story. There is a connected series, Family Law (I actually read this first, though it’s set in a distant future) that contains the same characters in a more supportive role. Though I read the series in the wrong order, I didn’t feel like I’d missed out or spoilt the plot of this book too much, but if I had to do it again, I would start with this book.  The full reading order is detailed in this post.

This book is set around 60 years in our future. There is are several space stations in orbit around Earth along with a base on the moon. On one of those stations live an interesting group of teenagers.

April is 13 years old but still looks pre-pubescent due to life extension therapies. She has other gene mods too, such as an ability to process large amounts of food, enhanced reflexes and strength and increased stamina. She’s also very bright. That intelligence often gets tweaked by unusual occurrences that lead to her general need to know what’s going on. Other people sometimes think that means she’s nosy when in actual fact, she often just wants to help.

One of April’s best friends is Heather who is also incredibly intelligent. Heather often does little ‘technical’ jobs for April by making or enhancing gadgets, or writing programs. All of these things help with her businesses and also the nosiness thing. Heather has an associate and friend, Jeff. Jeff is a genius and a prodigy. He also has a supportive father who encourages his inventive son. Jeff has managed to invent something extraordinary that is going to change the world. Between the three of them, they decide to work together, because the United States of North America believes that they are entitled to everything it wants, including their home.

I really enjoyed reading this book and meeting the teenage version of the characters I met in the Family Law series. There are quite a few echoes between the start of this series and the start of that one, the most important being they are about gifted young people who act like adults in extraordinary circumstances. All three of these teenagers are equally interesting though most of the book is focused on April and her transformation into a warrior.

All three young people come from different families but they all have parents that are open-minded to a certain degree and allow them a much greater level of freedom than most teenagers would be allowed. They also live on a space station, which colours their view of life somewhat.

I really enjoyed the political aspects of this book. There were quite interesting discussions on how a political system could and should work and how they look when they stop working for the people they supposedly represent.

Now I’ve got sucked into this timeline I want to see what happens to these young people next because life isn’t all peaches and cream at the end of this book. I’m glad there are LOTS of books in this series, because this was very entertaining.

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